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California Spring Trials Wrap-up
30 Apr, 2010 By: Jamie J. Gooch Get GrowingThe California Spring Trials showed off up-and-coming varieties and plant trends.
From Gilroy to Encinitas and all the stops in between, the new and yet-to-be-released cultivars were on display for a week in April during the 2010 California Spring Trials. Growers, retailers and landscapers who want to know what’s new and what’s next attend the annual event. This year’s displays didn’t disappoint.
Livescapes interviewed Stever Carver, manager, Technical Education at OFA — An Association of Floriculture Professionals, Jennifer Neujahr, product marketing manager for PanAmerican Seed, Dean Bemis, broker account manager for Syngenta Flowers, and Faith Savage, retail account manager for Syngenta Flower about their experiences at the 2010 California Spring Trials.
Q: What varieties/programs received the most attention from attendees?
A: Carver—There has always been a heavy focus on new plant material, new cultivars, and species that offer better aesthetics, production characteristics, and/or postharvest (including landscape) properties. In other cases, the new cultivars add additional colors to existing lines. Two plant trends that continue to be strong are:
- “Do it yourself” combo container/hanging basket programs. This takes the form of pelleted seed or plugs and liners that contain several species that grow well together.
- Vegetable gardening and incorporation of vegetable plants in landscape plantings continues to be popular.
- In the eight years that we have been going to the trials, we’ve seen increased attention given to marketing ideas and concepts that can help retailers. Proven Winners and the divisions of Ball Horticultural Co. are particularly adept at reaching consumers through various print, electronic, broadcast, and display venues, and creating within them a sense of excitement … pulling the product through the chain.
Two marketing messages that were strong this year were:
- Sustainability: Plants that can grown with a smaller carbon footprint. For instance, some can be grown economically under cooler temperatures while others are less vigorous and do not require the use of plant growth regulators during production. Biodegradable pots and packaging materials for plugs, liners, and plants that reduces plastic waste.
- Social causes: There were several companies that tied sales of a specific product to financial support of worthy causes.
Ball Horticultural Company's Shoppes on Main concept.
A: Neujahr—At the Ball Horticultural Company spring trials in Santa Paula, CA, we presented our Shoppes on Main concept, which brings our seed and vegetative offerings together at one stop. Displaying at this year's trials were seed brands PanAmerican Seed and Kieft-Pro-Seeds, as well as vegetative brands Ball FloraPlant and Selecta First Class. Our Retail Idea Center also featured Ball's consumer-facing brands: Burpee Home Gardens, Simply Beautiful, and the Wave petunia Ultimate Garden Center program.
Highlighted varieties from our brands this year that caused a lot of stir with visitors included: PanAmerican Seed's PlentiFall Pansies, Gryphon Begonia, Wave Purple improved, Easy Wave Opposites Attract mix, Divine New Guinea Impatiens, and also PanAmerican Seed's All-America Selections winners Echinacea PowWow and Zinnia Zahara Double; Ball FloraPlant Black Velvet Petunia, Patchwork Impatiens, and Voltage Yellow Osteospermum; Selecta TrixiLiners, MiniFamous iGeneration series Calibrachoa, and Bonfire Choc Red/Pink Begonia; and Kieft-Pro-Seeds' New Dimension Salvia, Ellagance Lavandula, and Blue Note Scabiosa.
A: Bemis—TigerEye rudbeckia and the Picobella milliflora petunia got lots of attention along with the Calliope Dark Red geranium and the Cora vinca. Volumia begonia and Jaguar gerbera were also crowd pleasers. Our display of Yoder brand mums scored high marks with visitors as well.
Q: What special events/programs did you host/attend and where?
A: Carver—We started at the north end of the trial circuit. While we didn’t hit every stop on the trail, we stopped at many, including:
1. American Takii – They have developed a number of excellent plants and forms for fall plantings. They also had excellent field trials and a growing display garden.
2. Agrexco – Along with several other companies, displayed a wide array of annuals and perennials, along with a number of plastic and biodegradable pots.
3. Syngenta Flowers – An amazing stop. From the wide collection of plant material and growing media options to the color-based, emotion-evoking marketing ideas that can readily be adopted by independent garden centers and retail growers, they are always a must-see stop.
4. Dummen USA – Of particular note is their Confetti series of liners. Each liner has multiple cuttings of different plants. Perfect for hanging baskets and containers.
5. Greenheart Farms – Displayed a wide selection of cyclamen and miniature roses.
6. Floranova – Along with extensive floral breeding program, they have created an excellent line of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and other vegetables and small fruit that fit very nicely into landscape and container plantings.
7. Imagination Canyon – Where we visited with John Henry Co., Jiffy Products, and Skagit Gardens, among others. John Henry, a major supplier of tags and signs, also displayed a “Bee – Friendly” social-cause program, and a program that would allow iPhone owners to scan symbols on the tags of vegetables and herbs, and pull up recipes and instructions from allrecipes.com. Jiffy Products displayed several products that would minimize plastic waste when planting liners and plants in the landscape. Skagit Gardens displayed a range of excellent plant material including an arresting group of euphorbias.
8. Ball Horticultural Companies – Another must see stop. Ball is a premiere marketer with national campaigns to promote their Burpee vegetables and Simply Beautiful plants. They also have extensive programs to promote organics, sustainability, and buy local efforts. In addition, they have extensive lines of annuals (including a new truly black-flowered petunia) and perennials for any situation.
9. Fides North America – A breeder; they displayed their material in imaginative ways.
10. Green Fuse Botanicals – Is a new company where breeding/genetics trends and new varieties were highlighted.
11. Suntory and Plug Connection – Both companies have outstanding plant material. Suntory heavily showcased the Sun Parasol mandevilla hybrid, while Plug Connection displayed an organic program and other material. It is one of the few sites that still has trials where they grow similar material from different breeders and suppliers side by side.
12. Proven Winners – Another must see site. They are a consummate marketer, reaching the consumer through various print, online, and broadcast media. They have effectively created a “pull-through market” for their plants. Their vegetatively produced product line is outstanding and is artfully displayed in the largest landscaped garden of the trials.
13. Paul Ecke Ranch – An outstanding stop. They showcased the social marketing programs, Polar Bear poinsettia and pink euphorbias for bear ecology and breast cancer awareness. A retail design center was also highlighted, showing ideas for decorating and adding value to plants.
See all of OFA's California Spring Trials photos here.
A: Neujahr—We hosted lunch and an afternoon "happy hour" at the Santa Paula trials for guests each day. These were great venues to meet casually with visitors, network and connect, and thank them for their time with us. We hosted many groups and organizations throughout the week, too.
A: Savage—What’s exciting about Spring Trials is the inspiration it provides to all attendees. That certainly holds true for landscapers and the growers who serve them. At Spring Trials, it’s our mission to create landscape displays that inspire and motivate. Looking at the displays created indoors, as well as the outdoor landscape beds, with our customers has been the catalyst to several great ideas.
One of the best: We created a “Landscape Days” event in Gilroy, CA, about four years ago as a direct result of comments we received from landscapers attending Spring Trials. This event has a broader focus and encompasses much greater detail on varieties and their application in the landscape—including seminars, discussions with our breeders, and viewing outdoor landscape designs all give landscapers insights into new plants that they should be utilizing.
Armstrong Growers, an outstanding provider of plants for landscapers throughout California, Arizona and Nevada, were inspired after attending the Landscape Days event in Gilroy and have now put in place their own landscape event, scheduled within a couple of weeks after Spring Trials. They invite hundreds of their landscape customers to see their displays and gain information from the seminars provided. To make sure they’re showing the best of the best to their customers, the Armstrong team makes it a point to attend Spring Trials each and every year—choosing the key varieties they want to display at their landscape event—and it’s paying off for them.
We have also, at the request of several other growers around the country, conducted landscape seminars at their sites. Again, they come to Spring Trials every year and get excited and motivated—they want to share that excitement with their landscape customers who haven’t attended Spring Trials, and we are helping them do that. Cultural and care information is shared, along with great new variety choices and everyone benefits with new tools to help them be more effective and efficient. Attending Spring Trials can definitely have broad ranging benefits!
Q.: Were there any weather or logistical issues?
A: Carver—Preparations went smoothly, and the whole trip went very well. There was some rain the first day of the trip but it didn’t interfere with the tour activities at all. We had ideal weather for the rest of the trip.
Ball Horticultural Company's indoor-outdoor trial location.
A: Neujahr—Weather did not impact Ball spring trials this year. Our facility included both indoor and outdoor pavilions, and the outdoor space was covered by newly designed and constructed sail structures, which shaded and sheltered visitors and material. Guests were able to eat, network and rest indoors in our registration area, as well as inside our Shoppes on Main display greenhouse. Besides a cooler start to the week, trials were pleasant, sunny and warm.
A: Savage—We received 1.33 in. of rain on Sunday and Monday (April 11-12) at our trials in Gilroy, but the rest of the week brought the lovely California spring weather we’ve come to expect.
Q. Overall, were there any trends or themes evident at this year's trials?
A: Neujahr—Growers in general were positive about the year that they were having so far. Many were experiencing good sell through. The No. 1 reason people attend pack trials is to learn about new varieties. Ball and its brands didn't disappoint them this year. At our location we were showcasing over 250 new varieties. Other trends:
- There is a continued interest in vegetables.
- Lots of people were on the lookout for innovative new products, like PanAmerican Seed's Fuseables multi-pellet/multi-species seed.
- Sustainability and "green" practices also were favorable.
A: Bemis—Yes. The landscape market segment wanted to see cultivars that were not necessarily the least expensive on a per-plant basis, but that could fill in a big space so the number of plants per bed was reduced. TigerEye rudbeckia, Volumia begonia and Xtreme impatiens would be good examples from our seed assortment; believe it or not, the Picobella milliflora petunia is VERY spreading and thus falls into this category!
Q. Were there any colors that seemed to be more popular than others?
A: Carver—There was, as always, a plethora of color on display. Everyone is trying to push the border on the color range of their product lines. This year, the stand-out for me was the black petunia I already mentioned.
A: Neujahr—Ball and its brands introduced well over 250 new varieties this year, and the colors ran the spectrum!
- The Ball FloraPlant Black Velvet Petunia (the world's only black petunia) certainly wowed at this year's trials. Black is the perfect complement to other colors and can create drama in the landscape and in mixed containers.
- Blues and purples from varieties like PanAmerican Seed PlentiFall Pansies, Selecta Magadi Lobelia, and Kieft-Pro-Seeds New Dimension Salvia impressed many guests.
- Voltage Yellow Osteospermum was very vibrant as well.
- Wave Purple remains a classic, and its improvement for its 15th-anniversary year was well-received.
Syngenta Flowers' Flickr slideshow.
A: Bemis—Contrasting colors seemed to make a bigger impression this year: blue set off by orange; red set off by green or yellow. Using contrasting colors of any kind was of great interest. It’s an economical way to make a big impact as fewer plants can be used but they “pop” and are very striking.
Q: Given the state of the economy, was attendance down this year?
A: Carver—Attendance was actually up. We asked both Proven Winners and Ecke (we visited them the last day of our trip) about attendance. Both responded that it was up over the last several years, with more than 1,400 visitors stopping by Proven Winners.
A: Neujahr—Visitor numbers were up significantly for Ball this year.
A: Bemis—We were all very surprised by the turnout, especially since the event was extra late this year (due to how Easter fell on the calendar) and most growers were deeply involved in spring crops already!
Q. Were there any introductions/programs that were targeted directly at landscape professionals?
A: Carver—Not specifically to landscape professionals, but there were many programs that were suited, including ecofriendly and sustainable programs for green-conscious customers, and biodegradable and other plug and plant containers that minimize plastic waste and save labor.
A: Neujahr—A new program through Ball Horticultural Company that received some exposure this year was our Circle Of Life EcoIndex, which is a comprehensive, scientifically based index of sustainable genetics and products. EcoIndex guides growers in selecting plants and hardgoods that help them reduce energy, chemical inputs and save water resources to help them operate more sustainably. Four icons help identify products and varieties with low water needs in the landscape, or that have been grown sustainably or with eco-friendly packaging.
Landscape professionals looking for a "green" edge in the marketplace can reference Ball's Circle Of Life EcoIndex for products and varieties that meet their needs.
A: Bemis—Yes, the ‘big blocks of color in simple designs’ using spreading items like Xtreme impatiens and Picobella milliflora petunias; Volumia begonias on wider spacing. From our vegetative assortment, Calliope geranium, Bandana lantana and our Yoder brand garden mums are also great choices for the landscape market.
Q: Why do you think it's important for landscape professionals to attend the trials?
A: Carver—Landscape design and maintenance is based on sound science, but it is art that composes its heart and soul. If an artist would not attempt to paint a portrait or a landscape mural without a full pallet of color at his disposal, why would a landscape professional attempt to ”paint” or maintain a living landscape without at least knowing the pallet options at their disposal. Trees, shrubs, and groundcovers are the 'flesh and bone' of any landscape, but it is the casual or fashion-designer floral display that provides the 'attire' for the property. An effective floral display can help turn a 'ragamuffin,' into a 'debutant.' But even a debutant will get boring if she wears the same clothes year after year. The California Spring Trials provides landscaping professionals with the ideas and materials to keep properties they design and manage fresh, fashionable … and profitable.
A: Neujahr—Spring Trials is one of the few places where you can see and learn about so many different varieties. It is like have a live catalog to look at for one week. There are product experts on-hand to answer questions on culture, on variety assortment, as well as provide suggestions on use. When people walk into our trials, we continue to experience the excitement of our visitors as they have the opportunity to see products first-hand and learn about so many different crops.
A: Bemis—Landscapers should attend—and attend with their grower supplier—because every display and every bench is an “idea garden” for the professional landscaper. Where else can you shop for great colors and plants?
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